China wants talks on upgraded FTA with Singapore to finish in 2016

BEIJING - China expects the negotiation on an upgraded version of the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to be finished within this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) meets his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan in Beijing on Monday.?[Photo/Xinhua]

Wang told his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan in Beijing that the China-Singapore FTA should be at the forefront of the FTAs in the region.

He called on the two sides to jointly push forward the building of a connectivity and logistics project in Chongqing, their third government-to-government project in China, after the one in Suzhou and another in Tianjin.

China hopes Singapore will become a financial support platform in building the 21th Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, according to Wang.

China will also work for the implementation of the results from the upgraded FTA between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said Wang.

Stressing that China-ASEAN cooperation is mutually beneficial and has a greater potential and a boarder vision, Wang called on Singapore to play a bigger role in enhancing China-ASEAN ties.